1. In large bowl, stir together all-purpose and whole wheat flours, flax, sesame and poppy seeds and yeast. In small bowl, whisk together water, honey, oil and salt; stir into flour mixture until sticky dough forms.2. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8 minutes or until still slightly sticky and dough springs back when pressed in centre, adding up to ¼ cup more all-purpose flour as necessary. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 ¼ hours.3. Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured surface. Gently pull dough into 11 x 8 inch (28 x 20 cm) rectangle. Starting at one narrow end, roll up into cylinder; pinch along bottom to smooth and seal. Fit into greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk and about ¾ inch above rim of pan, about 1 hour.4. Brush top of loaf with water. With serrated knife, make one 1-inch deep cut lengthwise along top of loaf. Bake in center of 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F; bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on bottom. Remove from pan; let cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf, 12 slices

... look of dough after beating for 8 minutes ...
still a very soft dough

My Notes:I always triple this batch and get 3 very large loaves. I don’t make the serrated cut down the loaf – it always just looks like the loaf has fallen to me. I don’t like that look. I have pencilled in on my recipe, the tripled ingredients so I don’t have to think that out every time. Although I call the Multi-Seed Bread my all-time favorite recipe, I think most people would say this is a better bread. Not as dense. The multi-seed bread takes more chewing. This one is more like cake. The seeds give a fantastic aroma. And the bread is so delicious to eat. Have I mentioned that I always take margarine and rub it over the outside of bread when it comes out of the pan. It softens the crust and makes it easier to cut – not so many crumbs on the kitchen floor, especially if you let all the kids cut the bread themselves, which I do.

I don’t cook any loaves of bread for 45 minutes as this recipe suggests. In my oven the large loaves are done in 37 minutes at a temperature of 350 degrees Farenheight – and 33 minutes for smaller loaves. Experiment and see how dry you want your loaves to be. This recipe is from page 22 of Canadian Living’s Best Breads & Pizzas. My colleague at the library, Dani Pahulje, tried the recipe and passed it on to me. If you would like a word copy of this recipe, email me at ajohnson@ucalgary.ca and I will send you one.For Catherine, I am typing in the LARGE BREAD MACHINE METHOD